[CitizensTruth] Charges dropped against DuPage 2!

[Jay Becker]

TRIB
http://mobile.chicagotribune.com/news.jsp?key=173198

DuPage County war protesters see charges dropped
Main witness fails to show to testify in disorderly conduct case
By Art Barnum |Chicago Tribune reporter
11:20 PM CDT, August 20, 2008

Disorderly conduct charges
were dismissed Wednesday against two DuPage County war protesters after
the main witness did not show up in court to testify against them.

Jeff Zurawski, 40, of Downers Grove and Sarah Hartfield, 45, of Naperville were charged after they placed a banner that read "IMPEACH Bush and Cheney-Liars" on
 the Great Western Trail footbridge overlooking Interstate Highway 355 near Glen Ellyn for several hours May 6, 2007.

DuPage
Judge Ronald Sutter dismissed the charges when an area truck driver
failed to appear in court. The driver, Charles Hardin of Carol Stream, had placed a 911 call to DuPage County sheriff's police saying he had seen the couple making a throwing
 motion toward the highway. He had testified at a pretrial hearing in which Sutter found probable cause to try the couple.

Zurawski
and Hartfield denied making any such throwing motion and said that by
hanging the banner, they were only practicing their right to free
speech.

Since their arrest, supporters have staged three rallies at the courthouse. On Wednesday, 50 supporters applauded them.

"Prosecutors had the burden to prove their case, and they needed their witness to have a chance," said Shawn Collins,
the Naperville attorney who represented the couple for free. "I would
have preferred to confront the evidence because they had a right to
oppose the Iraq war on a public sidewalk."

Zurawski
said, "I feel relieved, but we shouldn't have been dragged into this by
a vindictive prosecution. Maybe a public apology would help restore my
confidence in the system."

Zurawski said his anti-war efforts in
the DuPage area will continue and that the banner he displayed over the
highway will probably be seen publicly again.

The maximum penalty for misdemeanor disorderly conduct is a year in County Jail.

State's Atty. Joseph Birkett had said that the charges did not have anything to
 do with political expression but rather public safety.


 
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=229119&src=2

DAILY HERALD 

Fed up with the war in Iraq,
Sarah Hartfield and Jeff Zurawski unfurled a banner along a DuPage
County overpass to share their views with motorists traveling along a
bustling highway. 
They insisted it was a peaceful demonstration but both
were arrested in a criminal case that sparked a fervor among anti-war
advocates who accused authorities of trampling on the Constitution. 
Fifteen months after the saga began, prosecutors
dropped the charges Wednesday after the trucker who called 911 to
complain that day didn't show up for court to testify at trial. 
DuPage Associate Judge Ronald Sutter denied the
prosecution's request for a continuance, forcing them to dismiss the
disorderly conduct allegation for lack of evidence. 
Afterward, roughly 50 supporters seated in the courtroom gallery rose to their feet in thunderous applause.
"I'm supposed to feel relieved and I do a little bit,"
said Zurawski of Downers Grove, "but I'm still troubled that this ever
happened. We deserve the right to express an opinion without being
dragged into the legal system. Having been led away from my home in
handcuffs, after doing nothing wrong, still burns a bit."
Zurawski, 40, and his friend, Hartfield, 46, of Naperville, were arrested two weeks after their May 6, 2007, demonstration. 
They road their bikes to a pedestrian bridge that spans I-355 near Glen Ellyn and unfurled a large banner that read: "Impeach Bush and Cheney - liars." They also displayed an upside-down American flag for about 90 minutes.
Weeks later, a DuPage County sheriff's deputy pursued the misdemeanor charge
after he said a passing trucker complained. Initially, prosecutors
alleged the pair tossed something onto the roadway, causing motorists
to swerve. Later, though, the charge was amended to suggest they made a
"throwing motion." 
The protesters deny pretending to or actually throwing
anything. Rather, both said they were prosecuted because of their
political beliefs. 
But DuPage State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said the charges had nothing to do with politics.
"This was a traffic hazard," he said. "That's why we went forward with the complaint. I respect every person's First Amendment right. I don't think we should ever take any steps to curtail that. This had only to do with traffic safety on a highway. 
"You can't yell fire in a crowd and you can't hang a very large display over a highway like that. It's just unsafe."
Naperville attorney Shawn Collins represented
Hartfield and Zurawski for free. Collins said he was confident they
would have won had the case went to trial. "I took this case because I felt what happened to them was wrong," Collins said. 
Groups such as DuPage Against War Now and the
DuPage Peace Through Justice Coalition became involved. The case
sparked letter-writing campaigns, petition drives, Internet forum
debates from folks as far away as Australia, Britain, China, Ireland and the U.K. 
Several small protests were conducted outside the Wheaton courthouse.
The protesters said they plan to continue participating in peaceful demonstrations.
SUN 
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1118772,6_1_NA21_PROTEST_S1.article


August 21, 2008


Recommend (2) 

By Jennifer Golz jgolz at scn1.com
WHEATON -- Charges have been dropped against two anti-war
protesters who believed they were being prosecuted for their political
beliefs.
Sarah Hartfield, 46, of Naperville and Jeff Zurawski, 41, of
Downers Grove were joined by about 50 supporters in court Wednesday.

» Click to enlarge image 
In May 2007, Sarah Hartfield and Jeff Zurawski staged a protest from the Great Western Trail above Interstate 355. Three weeks later they were charged with disorderly conduct. 
(Sun file) 

    Declare It Now! Wear Orange!
Impeach Bush & Cheney for War Crimes
& Crimes against Humanity!



      
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/citizenstruth/attachments/20080821/6fdb982a/attachment.html>